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Ripple CTO David “JoelKatz” Schwartz has acknowledged Midnight in fresh bromance with the Cardano ecosystem, further fueling partnership speculations.
The privacy-focused Cardano sidechain has not felt the spotlight since its native token, Midnight (NIGHT), debuted earlier in December. Notably, one of the major factors is the incessant discussion about its importance by Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson.
Yesterday, one of his comments on Midnight’s potential drew approval from Schwartz, one of the pioneers of Ripple and the XRP ecosystem. Following a request for approval, the Ripple CTO wasted no time in giving his nod to the imminent sidechain, breathing life into the prospects of a partnership between Cardano and XRP.
“I hereby acknowledge Midnight,” he said in a December 29 tweet.
Stamp of Approval for Midnight
The latest exchange began when an XRP proponent, “XRPcryptowolf,” highlighted Hoskinson’s recent statement that Midnight and XRP have scaled 100x beyond the traditional financial system amid an ongoing real-world asset (RWA) tokenization push.
For context, legacy institutions like BNY Mellon and State Street have joined forces on the Canton Network to facilitate tokenization. However, Hoskinson highlighted in the December 26 post that these firms don’t seem to learn, as XRP and Midnight have scaled 100x beyond their ambitions.
In response to “XRPcryptowolf,” another XRP community member noted that he just wants Schwartz to acknowledge Midnight before anything. A minute after the request, Schwartz granted it with the acknowledgment tweet.
Cardano Founder Reacts
Meanwhile, Hoskonson joined the conversation on December 30, sharing what again sparked partnership conversations between both ecosystems. “Love you man,” the Cardano founder said.
Love you man pic.twitter.com/QZuICdo5QP
— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) December 30, 2025
Hoskinson further shared a meme clip from the 2008 comedy Step Brothers, in which Will Ferrell asked his new stepbrother, John C. Reilly, if they had just become best friends. Notably, it showed an instant bond between the two characters, one that Hoskinson and Schwartz seem to share at the moment.
Beyond memes, the XRP and Cardano communities believe there’s something in the pipeline. Notably, both ecosystems have repeatedly teased this, with the recent bromance between the Ripple CTO and the Cardano founder fueling the narrative.
The involvement of Midnight further adds to the allure. Hoskinson had previously stated that Midnight would be a DeFi layer for XRP, and this possibility keeps strengthening with friendly interchanges between major stakeholders of the ecosystem.
Even prominent industry figure and U.S. attorney John E. Deaton commented on the exchange between Hoskinson and Schwartz. He called the duo “two incredibly smart minds,” adding it was a good way to end the year and start the next.
Two incredibly smart minds – one shared purpose – mixed in with some holiday cheer – great way to end the year and look forward to the next one. Happy New Year boys.
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) December 30, 2025